Poop!

[palma66]

Im worried that my 3.5/mo old veiled cham is eating his own feces....How often should i clean the enclosure.

Hes eating about 4 meal worms and a few crickets/day.

Misting the enclosure about 4 per/day.

Using 75 wat basking lamp from morning till night then a nocturnal 75w infared light to keep the heat at the top warm. I do not have a thermometer yet but im guessing at the top its around 85-90 and between 65-75 at the bottom.

Please give me any advice. This is my first cham so im trying to do this right haha.

 

[laurie]

You need to do a basic wipe down every day. Any time I see feces in the cages I remove them. My chams like to use leaves as drop off places, so I might miss something once in a while but leaving poop in cages is asking for trouble. Dead leaves, that sort of thing, I remove on a daily.

 

[iLik3LIzards]

Im worried that my 3.5/mo old veiled cham is eating his own feces....How often should i clean the enclosure.

Hes eating about 4 meal worms and a few crickets/day.

Misting the enclosure about 4 per/day.

Using 75 wat basking lamp from morning till night then a nocturnal 75w infared light to keep the heat at the top warm. I do not have a thermometer yet but im guessing at the top its around 85-90 and between 65-75 at the bottom.

Please give me any advice. This is my first cham so im trying to do this right haha.

you dont need that night bulb. they need/like it to get down in temps during the night. 70's is perfectly acceptable. id get that thermometer ASAP. youd be suprised. depending on how close u have that lamp you could be in the high 90's low 100's and thats not good.

 

[palma66]

Well I live in cali. During the day here its been about 75-80 but can drops down to the low 50's at night. So my room sometimes gets a little cold.

 

[iLik3LIzards]

Well I live in cali. During the day here its been about 75-80 but can drops down to the low 50's at night. So my room sometimes gets a little cold.

ohhh. 50's in ure house? def get that thermometer tho to figure out ure temps.

 

[Elizadolots]

Unless you live in the northern realms of California, I suspect your night time temps are fine for your chameleon. They actually need a significant drop in temperature as well as darkness at night.

If you are in a place where it gets around 50 at night often, then I'd suggest you invest in a ceramic space heater to keep the chameleons cozy. Set it to kick in if the temperature drops below 60 or so.

 

[palma66]

Well its 53 outide...Im near Monterey, Ca. 12:30 am here. Which means its about 63 in the room. So im guessing the uvb light is enough for him at night right?

 

[Elizadolots]

You don't need any light at night....that's sleepy time. The most basic schedule is 12 hours with light, 12 hours without...

 

[palma66]

Doesnt the UVB stay on at all times???

 

[Elizadolots]

nope...they go to sleep under the MOON in the wild and don't get any UVB from moonlight.

 

[Julirs]

Kill the mealworms! They are a terrible feeder. A veiled cham that age can easily down 10-15 1/4" crickets a day-so if he is eating poop it sounds like you are not feeding him enough (although some chams will eat poop because it is shiny and yummy looking . )

As stated, unless your temps are falling much below 60, no heat at night. Definitely no light at night. The best thing to do if your room is cold is to heat the room, after that the best thing would be a well placed ceramic heater.

It really should be illegal to own cold blooded animals without a good digital thermometer or temp gun. Especially with young chams-it is something you need to have.